Friday, August 29, 2008

I read Fei's blog not too long ago, and when I mean not too long ago, I mean just a couple minutes ago haha.

I noticed that a girl wrote to Fei asking of her opinions/reviews of ELF, and so I thought to write a review of the products I used of ELF.

For all these products that Im about to review on, I used these about 2 years ago, so it's not anything recent, BUT the same products are still on the shelf and I remember very well how these products worked.

Earth & Water Duo Mascara

Rating: 0/5

Stickyness:The formula when you take it out of the tube looks pretty nice, but once you touch your lashes with them, it's so gooey! I almost felt as if they were tar on me. Im not even kidding. It's ridiculous of how sticky this is. Just go put on Elmer's glue. It might be just the same consistency, or at least from the tube I got

Flakyness:Flakes galore! I rub my eyes and I see all these little black specks on my lids, getting inside my eyes, and down my face. Horrid. Oh, and I'm a contact lens user and my eyes are super sensitive so this flakyness I experienced is just terrible for us contacts users

Separation & Clumps:uh, NO separation whatsoever right here. Clumps galore! It was one of those mascaras that gave you like 5 lashes at the very end after taking all your lashes into "one big lash" it looked very spidery

How it made my lashes feel:STIFF like a board. I kid you not. My lashes felt so brittle and hard. It felt like I could bend it in half and break it all off. Terrible!

ELF Eyelash Curler

Ratings:Overall: 4/5 (giving the benefit of the doubt, but in all honesty, I'd say it's at least a 3.5 to 3.8 rating)

Yes it did curl the lashes just fine, but it didn't fit my asian eye-shape, so that didn't make me too happy, but hey, it's $1 first of all, and most lash curlers, cheap and high end, tend to not fit my eyeshape anyway. I remembered I tried a Sephora lash curler ($16) at their store and it did not fit my eye one bit. So, if you are a person who has not found a single lash curler that fits (after trying everything else) , I would suggest you to buy this one since it's $1. If you're gonna buy a lash curler that doesnt fit, why not spend $1 rather than $16???

However, if you have found your "perfect fit" and perfect curls, no pinching etc etc with the lash curler you are using, by all means stick with it and don't buy this. This, in your case, would be something you'd carry in your car or purse as a "spare" for "just in case moments"

I know there are lots of people out there that this curler worked for them, but as for me, I think i'ts the fit that killed it, really, because this lash curler curled my lashes just fine. Yes it did pinched me, but it was rare when that happend cuz it pinched me when I myself accidently put it on my eyelid (yea, dumb of me).

What I think of it today:I actually threw this away a year ago when I shouldn't have. I regret throwing it away! I bought other lash curlers that still don't fit my eye shape and it's like, I might as well have kept the $1 curler rather than spend $10 or so on other lash curlers if they're going to work just the same.

Eye Brightening Eyeliner in Coffee:

Rating: 1/5

Tugging & Hardness:For my upper eyelid, it TUGGED like no other. I tried it when it was sharpened on its own when it was packaged, and then I sharpened the pencil with the sharpener than it was included and found that sharpening it made no difference. It kept tugging and tugging and tugging. When I used this pencil on my waterline (inner rim of eyes), it obviously was smoother just because the skin of our waterline is smooth, but really, its our skin that made the difference, not the pencil. It still felt "hard" going on my waterline like something sharp was poking me. I didn't like it

Color Payoff:The lead looked MUCH darker than what it came out to be, but for some people, they might like the color, so I don't want to necessarily bash this pencil color due to my own preference, but still, when I see a pencil, I expect the same color I see on the lead to go on my lid, and that did not happen here.

Sharpener:It included a sharpener. it isn't the "cap-sharpener", but a totally separate sharpener that came with the package, and let me tell you I am in LOVE with this sharpener. I seriously would buy this product just to get the sharpener and chuck the pencil in the trash. Seriously. I tried The Body Shop sharpeners, Sephora sharpeners, and ULTA sharpeners, as well as a regular #2 pencil sharpener, and even the sharpener that I use for my Prisma pencils (art students know what I'm talking about right there), and NONE of them sharpened my makeup pencils as well as this ELF one did, so that's why I gave this overall Brightening pencil a 1/5, cuz the 1 came from the sharpener. However, the downside is that there's only one size for the sharpener, so you can't sharpen like those jumbo pencils, but hey, it's $1, and for an awesome sharpener, but bad pencil, I'd buy this again, just for that sharpener.

Oil Blotting Sheets

Rating: 3/5

It DOES soak up oil, BUT these sheets are THIN THIN THIN! The thinness is the exact same thinness like tissue paper that you wrap your presents with. It's sooooooo thin, therefore if you're an oily person like me, I ended up using 2 sheets to blot my face vs the usual 1 blot sheet with my Clean & Clear blotting sheets. However, at $1, it's still cheaper to use 2 sheets of this Oily blotting sheet than to use one Clean & Clear blotting sheet.

This thing is really half and half on me. Honestly, I like to use this blotting sheet when my face is slightly oily, so that I don't waste an entire sheet of clean & clear. Since C&C is thicker, it's sometimes wasteful to use one sheet only to find that you don't need to use even half of it.

So overall, for yall ladies or gents who have slight oils and don't feel that you need to blot a lot, definitely get this ELF blotting sheet. It's cheaper, and you won't feel bad for wasting blotting sheets since you don't need to use much to begin with. For yall people who are severely oily, this won't cut it when you use it for one shot. You need to use more than one sheet, so it's an iffy-type of buy. I'd say just go ahead and buy one and if you dont like it, dont buy it again. At least it isn't like makeup where you really cannot use it if it doesn't work out for you._____________________________

I have not tried any of their brushes nor their lipglosses nor eyeshadows. I think out of the products they offer, I would like to rebuy their Eyelash curler, test out one eyeshadow brush (but not ANY other brush cuz I know it'll probably suck), and I'd like to try out their eyeshadows cuz I've seen some swatches online and some of them don't look to shabby! =) But I definitely won't buy any of these any time soon unless I'm actually there at the store and it's conveniently there. I don't feel that ELF is something to go out of your way to get, unless it's truly your HG stuff. It's one of those "pick up while you're there" type of product.

I hope I helped somebody out there. And sorry that this review isn't as indepth and organized as my other ones. I am SUPER busy with my college life now and I've got 200 pages to read and lots of notes to take and a Pre-Test and regular test to take. Yikes! So yea, I tried my best to update my blog with this review, and hopefully it helped yall make a decision of whether or not to get one of these ELF products.

see yall later! =)______________________________

EDIT

I really feel that overall ELF is a hit or miss--the entire line. Lots of people have raved on every single item, and some others have hated every single item. I think it's sort of like Coastal Scents how it's either you get super duper good items and then your friend who got the same product got them really crappy. Just like that. All the products are good in my opinion--I just think you have to be LUCKY to get that good item. The only item so far that I feel is possibly the worst of the bunch is the mascara. Honestly, no matter which tube you get, I don't think a person would ever get lucky with that mascara--it's HORRID. As for the eyeliner, I might have gotten an old one or a bad one, who knows? There have been people out there who claim its their HG stuff, but for me, I dun think I'll be buying ELF again. I think their lipgloss at the most...

Friday, August 15, 2008

At last!!! After procrastinating....or more rather, actually being busy.......well, actually it's a mixture of both =P I was really busy so I haven't been blogging as I usually do and also procrastination kicked in. Sorry =(

Anyhoo, I got out of the shower this morning, and decided to use my Mario Badescu Silver Powder, and that reminded me that I needed to put this review up!!!

I'm not going to speak too too much about this product, because the PHOTOS will do all the talking. Sorry, but some of yall might be grossed out by my pore-clogged-blackhead-infested nose! XD So in order to do this review, I might haveta gross some of yall out ^^()

Welps, here it goes! photo overload, so sorry if i slow down ur computer >.>

Directions: wet a cottonball (but don't drench it!!) and lightly dip it into the Silver Powder jar to get some powder on and smear it onto your nose. Wait 10-15 minutes for it to dry.

I asked my bf bout this picture and my nose, and he said that he saw majority of the blackheads gone, but its just the problem that my pores has gotten large so it appears like I have blackheads after this MB silver powder+ pore strip, when it reality, I removed almost all the blackheads.

And, of course, lets finish this gross post off, with some camera-whoring! =D

ROWRRRR

Overall what I thought of. . .

Mario Badescu Silver Powder

Rating: 4/5Price: $12 + shipping. 3/5 (I'm a cheapo so I dun like the price nor the additional shipping $$)Unclogs pores: 5/5 definitely unclogs it for youEase of Use: 5/5

Ingredients: Calcium Carbonate, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide

The MB Silver Powder definitely does what it claims in that it unclogs your pores. It's up to you what you want to do at the end, whether you want to use the pore strip, or use an extractor to get out the blackheads, or use your own fingers to pull out the blackheads. I tried pulling out some of the blackheads with my own fingers and the MB silver powder loosened up the pores so much that it was pretty easy pulling it out, though gross, i was happy that it came out regardless.

They give you a good amount of the powder. After using this 4 times, it looks as if I didn't even use it at all looking into the jar, so despite that Im a cheap person and still think $12 is a lot to pay for, in actuality, you get quite a lot for that $12 =)

Biore Pore Strips

Rating:4/5 (when used with Silver Powder) ; 1/5 (when used WITHOUT silver powder.aka when pore strip used alone)Price: 3.5/5 I bought this at walmart for about $9 including tax for a pack of 14, so that's roughly 50-60 cents per strip. Sorry guys, but Im stingy and think that it should be more like 25 cents per strip rather than 50cents! XD, but hey, at least they were like $15 or somethin--that would be outrageous >.>;;Ease of use:3/5If you don't apply it on your nose correctly so that it fits into every contour of your nose, you'll end up having gaps when it dries and the adhesive won't stick to the blackheads to pull them out, so you always have to be careful cuz it gets tricky IMO. I don't like how I have to be uber careful when applying the strips--i'd rather just slap it on mindlessly and have it still as effective even if i put it on wrong, but unfortunately that just can't be the case. You MUST put the strips on right.Pulls out Blackheads:4/5 when used WITH the MB silver powder, BUT if you use these strips alone WITHOUT the silver powder, to be honest, I'd say the effectiveness of this pore strip goes down to maybe a 1/5. I have used these exact same pore strips a couple years back and it BARELY got out ANY blackhead out of my nose, but the MB silver powder makes it soooo much easier for the pore strips to pull out the nasty lil pore-cloggers.

Hope that helps yall! If yall have any more questions after reading this, feel free to ask! =)

See yall laterrrr =)_____________edit

Just to add some extra, after using the nose strip, you know how it doesn't always get every blackhead out? I remembered when I did used this silver powder in the morning, I used LadyL's "bobby-pin extractor trick" to extract some of the leftover blackheads and it works =) . I personally like the pore strip just cuz it gets out majority of the blackheads all at once rather than do a small area at a time. I feel that extracting is more painful but I definitely feel that it gets ALL the blackheads out if you do it correctly. However, another pet peeve I don't like about extracting with an actual extractor/bobby pin or ur fingers, is that it leaves marks all over your nose. The extractors may not leave as bad of a mark on your nose, but your nails definitely do! I'd hate to grow up and have dents all over my nose =(

Next time I'll try to do an Only-Extractions method after using the Silver Powder to see if I get better results and I'll let yall know when I do that again =)

And I'll apologize in advance: I'm sorry if I don't post as much because school is coming up in a week! Plus I'll be out of town with my boyfriend helping him move into his dorm and spending one last week with him before we will be a city apart. And the city is a couple hours away so I know I won't be able to see him as easily as I once did >_< I gotta pack today and I wont' get back home til the day before school starts, so hopefully, my teachers will be a godsend and be such angels and be nice to all students to make my college experiences happier and easier.

EDIT Aug.30, 2008

I forgot to add how i applied this silver powder on my nose. Lurve commented on how she "mixed" her silver powder, but I do mine differently, and I'm sure it ends up the same.

What I do is dampen the cottonball where it's 1/4 soaked with water, and LIGHTLY dab the silver powder on and spread it directly onto my nose. I don't mix it anywhere else. The powder and water will mix on its own when I smear the silver powder across my nose.

Friday, August 8, 2008

lol, Agnes commented and wanted me to update, so here i am updating haha. Yes, Agnes, you are special! I update just for you =) But im sorry there's no pictures =/

Sorry i couldnt' update too much. Cuz this is what happend this week:

Sunday-Monday: lost my wallet. someone stole it, AND stole my NYX eyebrow pencil. It HAD to be a girl who stole my wallet! I reported it to the police already and hopefully I'll get it back cuz that was my bf's gift to me, and i had lots of money due to my birthday and graduation gift, and i had lotsa gift cards too. it makes me depressed to lose it. Please wish/pray for me to get it back.

Monday: Test #3 for my college summerschool course for Finite Math. I got an 85 on it! =)

Tuesday: Hurricane was supposed to hit my city, and it did, but since my city is so wide and huge, it hit more on the east side, whereas i live on the far westside, so i just got a light sprinkle of rain.

wednesday: oddly, there was lots of rain this day despite that the weather people forcasted yesterday was supposed to be the hit. Anyhoo, I went to 3 different police stations, yet they said I went to the wrong one each time. They said I have to go to the sheriff's department that is in charge of the location where I lost my wallet.

thursday: hung out with my boyfriend cuz on Friday I would get my wisdom teeth removed. It was a good day. Then when my boyfriend went home, my mom drove me to the correct sheriffe's police station that's like freakishly far away (gayyy!!!) and the directions were gay too, so we kept getting lost. I didn't get to eat dinner yet cuz I was waiting at the police place. Didn't matter too much cuz I wasn't hungry cuz I had a full lunch. I just ate Honey Bunches of Oats cereal for dinner =) Then took my med in preparation for tomorrow's surgery.

Friday (today): i got my wisdom teeth pulled. The meds they gave me was like Valium so calm me down and reduce anxiety. The IV didn't hurt at all cuz my doc put this freezer foam on my arm, and then I literally knocked out in like 5 seconds. I woke up the minute the took out the IV and remembered all that the docs did. I was fumbling around trying to get to the bed to rest. I felt pretty nauscious =(. What's funny is that the doc told me the guy next to me reacted differently to the numbing meds. He kept smiling and wouldnt' stop smiling. As for me, my mom told me that the doctor informed her I couldn't stop saying Hi to people XD!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAH I must have been some freakin delirious person lol

So i come home, and after eating a chocolate milkshake, as suggested by my doctor, I felt sick and threw up from not drinking my antibiotics at the right time. Then I went to sleep...woke up, and ate the rest of the chocolate milkshake. Surprisingly, and luckily, I'm recovering fast. I can talk slowly, I don't feel any pain (probably cuz of meds), and I'm walking around. I feel so restless laying in bed despite the aweseome squishy-ness factor of my bed, but my legs feel like going on an adventure so I had to walk around my room and house.

At the point, I have this...headband thingy around my head holding icepacks on either side of my face. My face is slightly puffy lol, but it isn't as bad as i thought, really.